Assam eviction firing: Deadly cocktail of fraud, govt apathy, procedural lapses

The villagers of Assam’s Kachutali will not forget the afternoon of September 12 in a hurry. The village in Sonapur revenue circle lies only about 25 km from capital city Dispur. On that fateful day, it turned into a battleground.

While two villagers, Haider Ali (19) and Zubahir Ali (18), were killed in police firing, several others were injured and some are still in hospital. On the other side, 22 policemen were badly injured along with other administrative personnel.

So, what led to this dreadful clash? An eviction drive from protected tribal land. While police claim agitated villagers attacked them while they were on duty, the Assam chief minister has blamed the Opposition for inciting the villagers, whereas the villagers have a different story to tell.

What the victims say

One of the villagers injured in the police firing is 18-year-old Tofiz Ali. He was admitted to the ICU of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on September 12 with two bullet wounds. The Federal caught up with his father Shahjahan (45) at the GMCH four days later.

“On that day, I came to know much later that my son had got bullet wounds. I found him in GMCH on September 13 and have been here since then,” said Shahjahan. “The situation turned chaotic in no times and people ran helter-skelter. I didn’t know where Tofiz was when the police shot him.”

Shahjahan, who is in the fish business, said the rest of his family fled to Darrang district to relatives’ places. “I doubt there is anybody left in Kachutali by now,” he said. Shahjahan said till then, his house had not been demolished, as it is on “myadi” land (ownership land). But an eviction drive is looming on them as well.

All-round chaos

Kuddus Ali (25), who works as a construction worker, rushed home to Kachutali after hearing about the deaths and firing by police. His family members have also fled to other districts. His house is also on “myadi” land. He has been by Shahjahan’s side in attending to Tofiz.

Similarly, Abdul Awal rushed from Darrang district after hearing about the gunshot injuries of his brother-in-law Surman Ali, who is also admitted to GMCH. Abdul has left his sister, Surman Ali’s wife, with their siblings in Darrang.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has blamed the Opposition Congress for the incident, saying that when the party started opposing the eviction drive, people got agitated and attacked the police, who had to fire in self-defence.

Opposing versions

Assam DGP, GP Singh claimed on X that there were conspiracies behind the attack on the officials and the incident would be investigated to bring all the conspirators to book. But Shahjahan has a different version about the turn of events at Kachutali.

“The eviction started on September 9 with the demolition of both kutcha and the pucca houses, leaving many homeless overnight. The dwellers could save little of their belongings and spent days and nights under makeshift tents fashioned out of tarpaulin sheets,” he told The Federal.

Shahjahan alleged that no notice had been given in advance and police came one the day before to make the announcement. “Policemen came to the village and asked everyone to vacate their houses and asked them to keep their belongings outside if they wished to save those,” Shahjahan narrated.

What led to the firing?

The officer in charge of Sonapur police station told The Federal that notices and other steps were not part of the police’s duty and is in the domain of the circle office. The police merely assisted the administration maintain law and order, he said.

The Federal tried to contact the circle officer of Sonapur revenue circle, but failed to get a response. The OC of Sonapur police station added that the eviction was completed during on September 9–10.

So, what happened two days later, on September 12? The evicted villagers told The Federal that the police intimidated them to leave Kachutali at once. If anyone was found to be sheltering any of the evictees, they would also have to face the law, the police allegedly warned them.

What fuelled massive anger?

On September 12, the distressed people were apparently gathering whatever remained of their belongings when the police arrived and allegedly started intimidating them to leave within a few hours. “The villagers stayed back even after the eviction drive only to collect a few things such as paddy crop,” Shahjahan explained.

“The police arrived in the morning and started terrorizing people. They smashed tin shades, containers of paddy and other things. The people resisted but the police went on unabated. The victims were only arguing until an untoward incident happened. Some people sat down to eat their lunch in the open when some policemen threw away their food. This fuelled massive anger among the people and the clash erupted,” Shahjahan claimed.

“Soon, the news spread like wildfire and people of both Kachutali 1 and Kachutali 2 villages started gathering at the spot. Villagers came out from everywhere, irrespective of who was evicted and who wasn’t. Police initially fired blanks shots, but later started firing at random, when many got injured. My son was not in that spot, and it was late in the night that I came to know that he had been shot. This shows how the clash spread fast,” he narrated.

Protected tribal land

The police version, however, is that the villagers attacked them with sticks, stones, and other similar objects. They had to open fire to control the situation, and 22 of them got badly injured, the OC confirmed.

But why were the villagers being evicted in the first place? Apparently, Sonapur revenue circle houses protected land under the tribal belt. Following the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act 1886 (amended in 1947), landholding in the tribal belts and blocks is restricted to tribal communities, and Kachutali area also comes under it.

No one — whether Muslims (migrants of the erstwhile East Bengal origin) or non-tribal Assamese (irrespective of religion) — can buy land within a designated tribal block or belt. So, how did these people, who have now been evicted, settle there and build pucca houses? Did all the settlers resort to fraudulent means or was there any confusion, misleading, and cheating?

“Myadi” landowners not safe either

Even though Shahjahan and Kuddus Ali claimed that their land is “myadi”, the plots are not registered in their names. But they have been paying the ‘khajna’ (land revenue) since procuring the land. “I bought 2.5 cottahs of land at Kachutali around 2008 or 2009 for Rs 86,000. I have been paying tax,” Shahjahan told The Federal.

When asked why the plot is not registered in his name, he said Muslims are not entitled to get land in that area, as it is a tribal belt. However, in reality, no one, not even non-tribal Assamese, are entitled to own land in this protected area.

In the initial phase, only those settled on the “khas” (government) land were evicted. But later, notices were served to those who have the “myadi” land as well amid the fear of further evictions.

But how did people like Shahjahan buy land in those protected areas? Were they kept in the dark and misled when the land was sold?

Forgery in land deeds?

Anomalies in land deeds are rampant in tribal belts, said Senior Advocate of Gauhati High Court, Santanu Borthakur. He cited the example of Chandrapur, where non-tribal Hindu Assamese people also faced problems after buying plots in belt areas. “Middlemen and the ignorance of government officials are responsible for this,” he said.

Another land rights activist and a practising advocate at Gauhati High Court, Krishna Gogoi, also told The Federal that there have been forgeries in procuring land in tribal belts. “In the Dimoria belt, Gobha, and Nokhula (near Jagiroad), these kinds of forgeries took place. Some of the landholders claimed to have settled in these areas in or before 1935, when these areas were not designated as tribal belts,” he narrated.

“However, in the old land document, I noticed something fishy. I saw some signatures had been done with ball pens — in 1935! During that time, ball pens did not even exist. It raised a serious doubt of forgery,” Gogoi told The Federal.

Procedural lapses?

Borthakur, who is known for his rights’ activities in Assam, told The Federal that the Sonapur hamlets were built only around 1950; therefore, no non-tribal should have settled there. “The government can evict people from protected belts, a power bestowed upon it by a high court order,” he explained.

However, Borthakur pointed out that the Supreme Court has clear guidelines for such activities. “It says that evictions are to be conducted after issuing notice well in advance and after hearing out the individuals who have been served notice. “In the recent evictions, including the one at Sonapur’s Kachutali village, these guidelines were totally ignored. This is a serious matter,” he said.